ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: July 15, 1997
Dept. File No.
CC File: 5762
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: The Manager of Real Estate Services and the General Manager of
Engineering Services in consultation with the Director of
Central Area Planning on behalf of the Director of Land Use
and Development
SUBJECT: Street Access to the 2600-Block Vanness Avenue
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the City-owned Lots 8 and 9 (Block A, D.L. Sec. 46 S HLF
THSL, Plan 1380) on the 4200-block Penticton Street, east
side, be retained in the Property Endowment Fund and reserved
for road purposes; and
B. THAT the Manager of Real Estate Services and the General
Manager of Engineering Services be instructed to report back
with recommendations if and when B.C. Hydro notifies the City
that it wishes to terminate its lease to the City for the
right-of-way in the Skytrain corridor from Slocan Street to
the 2600-block Vanness Avenue.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of
the foregoing.
PURPOSE
This report responds to Council's direction on June 18, 1997 for the
City Manager to negotiate a more equitable cost sharing arrangement for
access to the 4200-block Penticton Street.
BACKGROUND
At Public Hearing on June 18, 1997, Council approved an application to
rezone the two lots at 2669 and 2675 Vanness Avenue (Appendix C) from
RS-1S to CD-1 to allow an infill one-family dwelling at the rear of each
of the two lots. Three conditions of approval were recommended to be
met by the property owner prior to enactment of the CD-1 By-law, and one
condition was presented for Council consideration (see Appendix A). At
Public Hearing Council approved two of these conditions (see Appendix B)
and it instructed "the City Manager to negotiate a more equitable cost
sharing arrangement for the provision of access across Lots 8 and 9 and
report back prior to enactment for Council approval."
DISCUSSION
Existing Access to 2600-block Vanness Avenue: The 2600-block Vanness
Avenue is connected to Slocan Street to the east by a leased
right-of-way, about 7 m (23 feet) wide, within and along the north edge
of the Skytrain corridor.
Although the right-of-way is narrower than the 9 m (30 feet) minimum
required by the Vancouver Building By-law for providing fire truck
access to any site, Fire Prevention staff determined in November 1993
and confirmed again in October 1995 that this access poses no risk to
the lives or property of Vanness Avenue residents as the right-of-way
functions adequately for emergency vehicle access. Fire Prevention will
have to be consulted if and when alternate access to Vanness Avenue is
to be provided.
However, street access is non-permanent. It is leased from B.C. Hydro
($1 per year) through an unregistered lease agreement which can be
terminated by 3-month written notice. B.C. Hydro is unwilling to give
up, dedicate, or sell any easements along the Central Park Corridor, or
alter their termination clauses. However, it also has no policy,
program, or intention to reclaim, revoke, or terminate any easements or
similar agreements along the Corridor. Therefore, although it is not
possible for the City to secure the right-of-way for the longer term,
the access route does not appear to be in jeopardy in the short to
medium term.
As instructed by and taking direction from Council, Engineering Services
and Real Estate Services staff have reviewed this situation and agree
there is a City obligation to provide for ongoing street access to the
2600-block Vanness Avenue. This obligation includes making provision
for the possibility that B.C. Hydro terminates the Slocan-Vanness
right-of-way.
Alternative Access to Vanness Avenue: Two alternatives were previous
identified for providing an alternative access to Vanness Avenue:
extending Vanness Avenue easterly to Slocan Street through the
gasoline service station site and adjoining property at 4289 and
4291-4293 Slocan Street and abutting the Skytrain corridor:
This alternative would re-align the present route to Vanness Avenue
from Slocan Street. This would improve lane access for the
remaining C-1 properties to the north, but it would also eliminate
most of the commercial uses in this small district (the three
northern-most C-1 properties are still developed with one-family
dwellings).
The cost of acquiring the necessary land was estimated at $900,000
(note: recent building improvements were made to the gasoline
service station at 4293 Slocan Street). Staff did not favour this
alternative due to its cost and the impact on existing commercial
establishments.
extending Vanness Avenue westerly to Penticton Street through the
vacant City-owned Lots 8 and 9 on the east side 4200-block
Penticton Street and abutting the Skytrain corridor:
This alternative would connect Vanness Avenue to Penticton Street
by means of a right-of-way through City-owned Lots 8 and 9 abutting
the Skytrain corridor. The value of these lots was estimated to be
$350,000, on the assumption they could be developed under RS-1S
zoning regulations. Staff favoured this alternative due to its
lower cost and lesser disruption.
Costs and Cost-Sharing: If the City has an obligation to provide for
ongoing street access to the 2600-block Vanness Avenue, including making
provision for the possibility that B.C. Hydro terminates the
Slocan-Vanness right-of-way, then a Penticton-Vanness roadway is clearly
the least-cost alternative:
City-owned Lots 8 and 9 could be reserved for road purposes, at no
cost to the property owners on Vanness Avenue; and
the City would undertake the necessary roadway construction to
provide a Penticton-Vanness connection (estimated cost $30,000), at
no cost to the property owners on Vanness Avenue.
Based on the foregoing, staff recommend that Lots 8 and 9 on the
4200-block Penticton Street, east side, be retained in the Property
Endowment Fund and reserved for road purposes.
While this road reservation has implications for the value of Lots 8 and
9, staff wish to note some off-setting considerations:
Lots 8 and 9 can continue to be used for informal park/recreation
purposes by residents in the surrounding area;
if and when a roadway needs to be constructed through Lots 8 and 9,
the residual parcel may have some value as a developable lot, if it
can be consolidated with abutting property to the north or if the
roadway width leaves a residual of sufficient size to meet the
minimum lot requirement in the RS-1 District (and Category A of the
Subdivision By-law).
In short, while the staff recommendation commits the site to potential
roadway use, it also maintains beneficial use of the site in the
short-term for informal park and children's play area and it preserves
some future options for the balance of the site which would not be used
for a roadway.
Staff also wish to note that there are several trees on the site. As
these grow and become more mature, they could be jeopardized be the
construction of a roadway. It might be desirable that the potentially
affected trees be relocated to facilitate later roadway construction.
Engineering staff will investigate this matter further.
CONCLUSION
The General Manager of Engineering Services and the Manager of
Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Central Area
Planning on behalf of the Director of Land Use and Development,
recommend that Lots 8 and 9 on the 4200-block Penticton Street, east
side, be retained in the Property Endowment Fund and reserved for road
purposes.
It is also recommended that the Manager of Real Estate Services and the
General Manager of Engineering Services be instructed to report back
with recommendations if and when B.C. Hydro notifies the City that it
wishes to terminate its lease to the City for the right-of-way in the
Skytrain corridor from Slocan Street to the 2600-block Vanness Avenue.
APPENDICES A, B AND C are on file in City Clerk's Office
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